Friday, May 12, 2006

Animation School Lesson 2 -Squash and Stretch on heads

OK, here we go kids. If you haven't already drawn all the drawings from lesson 1, then don't proceed to this lesson. You need to already have a firm grasp of solid construction before you can start stretching the crap out of your drawings. Otherwise they will look like mush.Preston makes an important point in his notes: The top of the head (the cranium) is not as pliable as the bottom half (the jaw, cheeks and mouth).This is based on reality.Real living heads are constructed of 2 parts:

1 The cranium.

In real life it stays solid because it is made of bone.

2 The jaw.

It is also solid and made of bone-but it can MOVE. And when it moves, it stretches the skin with it.Got it?

Take a look at this average typical man.

That's the basic concept you need to understand when you start drawing different expressions on your constructed characters.When something opens its mouth, 2 things happen:1) The jawbone lowers, thus stretching the skin.2) The lip muscles stretch into different shapes according to the expression.

In an old cartoon, a lot of characters don't actually have jaws-like this Preston Blair dog. Instead he has a cartoony stylized version of a jaw. It's just a balloon that stretches when the mouth is open and squashes when the mouth is closed.

It suggests what happens in reality but is not physically the same as having actual bones in your head.

So my point is-even though it's not real-it still has to feel natural in order to have a convincing effect on the audience.

SMILES AND FROWNS

Note how in the drawings at the top of the page, the dog isn't even opening his mouth yet his jaw squashes and stretches anyway.This is a cartoon invention, based on another thing that happens in reality.

When you smile, your smile pushes your cheeks up towards your eyes and compresses them.When you frown, your smile lines pull your cheeks down, making your cheeks look longer.OK, now that you understand the concepts of squash and stretch and why things stretch when they do-remember it's not arbirtary distortion-go ahead and start copying all the drawings on this page.

MAINTAIN VOLUME WHEN STRETCHING AND SQUASHING

IMPORTANT EXTRA TIP! When stretching and squashing something, try to maintain the basic VOLUME of what you are distorting. This will help keep your animation drawings looking natural.Remember to use construction when drawing! Don't draw straight ahead!

73 comments:

AAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!! Oh my god! John posted my troll pictures! OK, so maybe I'm not the handsomest man on the block but I'm not going to apologize for the overbite, which I regard as an asset. I actually feel sorry for people who don't have buck teeth. How do they imitate upper-class Englisnmen? How do they do they eat corn?

It's me Jesse. Funny faces make funny cartoons. John should put up some of your layout drawings on his blog. I would love to see what drawing poses you did for Ren & Stimpy or any other SPUMCO cartoons. Also what is your all time favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon. My favorites are the following.

1. Wild Hare

2. Elmers Pet Rabbit

3. Heckling Hare

4. Falling Hare

5. Hare Ribbin

6. Bugs Bunny Bond Rally

Heres one more question. Do you think it would be cool if you, John and the SPUMCO gang could make a Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck cartoon for WB. You guys could bring back the classic old school WB style back to that studio.

Great post John, I'm still working on the first lesson but I'm itching to get started on this one. By the way, Eddie is far more cartoony than anything on TV since Ren and Stimpy, I would think that makes him an above average mammal no?

Thank you for deciding to continue the lessons! I'm sure once everyone has time to get their books they will join in.

I posted drawings from the first lesson this morning but the red pencil was too light so I will have to repost them. Just so you know though I intend to take full advantage of your generosity! I'm looking forward to tackling this lesson tonight!

JENNIFER - You really think I'm cute? Gee, thanks! And thanks also to the Deity for clouding girls' minds so that even loathesome, hairy beasts like men look good to them.

MARLO - For God's sake don't print that terrible drawing! I have much better ones that I did from memory the day after. I'll post them on my blog when I get it up in a week or so (Um, I mean when I get the blog up). Thanks for saying you love me but I have to warn you that my heart belongs to my mother who sits by the hearth knitting pies for the poor.

KATIE - You look great in those pictures! That'll make John's lesson go down a lot easier with the menfolk out there. Thanks for taking the pictures I called troll pictures. I hate to admit it but they really are well-done!

JESSE - You're a guy for Pete's sake! I didn't know that! I was thinking of "Jess," you know, short for Jessica. Here I wasted all that time trying to be witty and suave when we talked before because I thought...Oh, well. Anyway, my favorite Bugs cartoons are Hare Ribbon, Tortoise Wins by a Hare, The Big Snooze and Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid. I see Falling Hare is on your list. I like that a lot but it strikes me as a really funny thrill cartoon rather than a pure comedy. I snobbishly give it an A rather than an A+ like the others. The Bond Rally is one of your favorites? That's a bit generous, don't you think? I'll have to watch it again.

Hey, John.This is a great post! I love the lessons. I've been drawing my ass off thanks to you.

This is sort of off-topic, but I remember one of your stories about Jack Cheese, and how he always used to "char" his friends. So he made a friend out of egg yolks so he could tell it jokes and fart on it.Well I told my pals about your story and how John K coined the term "charred", and now we say that all the time! The other night we saw some dumb pretentious girl doing "performance art". It was so bad, all of us were completely CHARRED. We burned to a crisp.

It's Jesse(MALE). I forgot to mention my other favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons "Tortoise Beats Hare" and "Tortoise Wins By Hare". I like the Bond Rally cartoon because I like Bugs Bunnys singing in that. I love "Elmers Pet Rabbit" because of the fact that Mel Blanc gives Bugs a mutch differant voice. I really wish the uncensord version of "Hare Ribbin" would be on DVD along with the other Bugs Bunny cartoons I mentioned. It would be really cool to see a Bugs Bunny cartoon made by John, you and the SPUMCO gang. Dosen't Richard Pursel work at WB? He should talk them into letting John make some violent, funny and adult rated Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck cartoons for the theater. I can still see you guys bringing back the old school style of WB cartoons to that studio. John could teatch those guys a lesson!

your pal,

Jesse

P.S. I'm the Jesse who made you a drawing of Tex Averys Wolf & Red Hot Riding Hood.

JESSE - Holy Cow! I forgot to thank you for that drawing! I put it on my bulletin board. Sorry for my bad manners. About the Spumco crew doing a Bugs cartoon...(Sigh!)...I've often had the same thought. Zeuss has so far not willed it.

Great Lesson! Loving the visuals. Combining real life examples and the cartoon versions is a neat way to learn. Still trying to figure out lesson one. I'm running out of paper here. So, many things that I have to work on. I'll keep on keeping on.

I think your blog is fascinating. I like to draw (for fun, not anyway in a professional capacity. Heck, I haven't even taken any art classes since I was maybe 10) so I will try to follow your lessons. Which means I suppose I'd better go about copying all the art you've posted. Eep. ^_^;; I hope reading your blog will help me improve. ^_^v

This is exciting. I've downloaded all the 1st edition pages and ordered the new edition of the Preston Blair book. (For anyone who hasn't found the book yet - ordering direct from the publisher is not a bad deal; including shipping it's only half a buck more than ordering from the amazon marketplace seller with the 88% rating, a total of $7.95 + 2.95 shipping = $10.90 total. Orders over $50 get 20% off, but I just ordered the one book for now. Nice simple and secure checkout that takes PayPal or credit card.) I placed my order Friday and I'll let everyone know how fast it arrives. Here's the link to the item at the publisher (walterfoster.com).

I've also set up my blog and I'm ready to start drawing (no drawings posted yet, but I'll do my best to catch up. Can't ignore Mother's Day, though). And, yes, I'm following the ASIFA instructions; I've also emailed the link to my blog to Stephen Worth!

Thank you John for continuing the lessons!It's good to see you Eddie! When I see these pictures I automatically hear that laugh of yours! Hey, thanks for the compliment on my comic strips! You have no idea how much that meant to me! Made my day! Hell, made my month!

Ok, John K. I'm taking the lessons. I doubt I will ever work for you cause I'm for another country and I don't know if I could ever managed to be good enough.

Anyway I'm going to post my drawings in my blog (just click on my name and you'll find it), so I expect you eventually could tell me here if I'm doing any good. Sometimes I see what I have done better, but other times I'm not really sure if I have improved in some aspect or not. I have planned to post other stuff by me too, so you'd probably have to scroll a little. I'm beginning a little slow, but I'll continue soon.

John, I can't belive no one has let you run an animation studio !(other than your own of course)You have a wealth of information and history that would be pure gold if someone would recognize it. Keep on pushing man. I never thought Lasseter would get the run of Disney so who knows...